As young Ananya was growing up, she watched her father, a fighter pilot in the Indian Air Force (IAF), nurture this very bond with his fellow squadron pilots. Having virtually grown up in the IAF, there was absolutely no other profession that she could imagine being a part of.
As the first women fighter pilots of the IAF entered service in 2016, Ananya saw that her lifelong dream was now a possibility. Having completed her B Tech in Electronics and Communication, she was selected for training for the flying branch of IAF. She was commissioned as a fighter pilot in December 2021. Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma, Ananya’s father, was commissioned in the fighter stream of the IAF in 1989. He has had an extensive experience of fighter operations, having commanded a Mig-21 Sqn as well as a frontline fighter station.
The father-daughter duo created history on May 30, 2022, when they flew in the same formation of Hawk-132 aircraft at Air Force Station Bidar, where Flying Officer Ananya Sharma is undergoing her training before she graduates onto faster and more superior fighter aircraft of the IAF.
